ANZAC DAY 2012 INFORMATION
 
COLLINGWOOD V ESSENDON
This year’s ANZAC Day blockbuster will be the 18th annual clash between Collingwood and Essendon since the tradition began with the memorable 1995 drawn match at the MCG, played in front of a crowd of 94,825.
 
That first match still represents the second biggest home and away crowd in AFL history, behind the 99,346 fans that saw the 1958 Queen’s Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne at the MCG.

This year the match will be televised live on the Seven Network and FOX FOOTY (channel 504).

Click here to view the full broadcast guide.
 
The rivalry now stands at nine victories to Collingwood, seven victories to Essendon and a draw.
 
The ANZAC Day match pays tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women of Australia and celebrates the ANZAC spirit - courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship.
 
The traditional veteran’s motorcade will take place prior to the observance ceremony and the commencement of the game.
 
This year’s match will pay special tribute to the veterans of the Kokoda Track Campaign in the Pacific War of World War II. It is the 70th Anniversary of the campaign and veterans from those battles will participate in the motorcade along with returned veterans and returned nurses and servicewomen who served in Korea, Malaya/Borneo and Vietnam.
 
PRE-MATCH PROGRAM
This year’s pre-match program will feature
 
    ?    The Royal Australian Navy Band
    ?    Entertainment from Jon Stevens
    ?    Red Berets (four parachutists)
    ?    Motorcade of ANZAC Veterans.
    ?    Observance Ceremony
    ?    Catafalque Guard slow march, flags are lowered to half-mast
    ?    Major General David McLachlan recites “The Ode”
    ?    One minutes Silence
    ?    Last Post
    ?    Reveille
    ?    National Anthem
 
GATES
MCC Gates Open 10.30am. Public Gates open at 12.30pm. Main entertainment starts from 1.20pm and the match will begin at 2.40pm.
 
PRESENTATION OF MATCH FOOTBALLS
Representatives from Collingwood and Essendon will present the footballs to the umpires on the MCG.
 
Collingwood Football Club will be represented by Corporal Tom Reynolds from the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, South Australia. Tom is a friend of Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008-2009 on a Mentoring, Reconstruction and Task Force 1 nine-month deployment. Tom was part of the Operational, Mentoring and Liaison Team whose job was to train and mentor the Afghan National Army whilst conducting joint operations and living with them in Combat Outposts.
 
COIN TOSS
Collingwood Football Club has invited Mrs Alison Jones to toss the coin before the start of the match. Alison is the mother of Sergeant Brett Wood who was serving with the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan when he was tragically killed in action as a result of the explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device on Monday 23 May 2011. During his career he was awarded numerous citations and commendations for gallantry and bravery including The Medal for Gallantry, and the Distinguished Service Medal. Brett’s sister Meryl Jones will join Alison on the arena for the toss of the coin.
 
The Medal for Gallantry is one of Australia’s highest decorations and recognises acts of gallantry in action in hazardous circumstances. The medal was awarded to Sgt Wood for gallantry under fire in Operation Slipper in the Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. The Distinguished Service Medal was awarded by the United States to Sgt Woods for his bravery in saving the lives of five US Marines caught in a fire fight.
 
THE KIP
This year a traditional ‘kip’ and a single 1942 Australian Penny will be used for the coin toss. Two-Up is a traditional Australian game indelibly linked to the ANZACs and a regular part of ANZAC Day commemorations.
 
CHEER SQUAD BANNER
The ANZAC Day match is unique in that the players from each team join together to run through a single cheer squad banner created by the cheer squads of both clubs - in recognition of the ANZAC Spirit and the way Australians came together as one in times of war.  The banner lists the names of footballers from each club who lost their lives in war. The captains and players both teams will meet to shake hands before they run through the banner together.
 
ANZAC DAY LOGO
The Returned & Services League, Australian Football League, Collingwood and Essendon Football Clubs have established an ANZAC Day logo. Each year the logo is proudly displayed on the guernseys of both clubs and the cheer squad banner.
 
RSL COLLECTION
A collection for the Returned & Services League will be held at the match. One hundred and twenty volunteers will collect at the gates prior to the beginning of the match.
 
ANZAC DAY TROPHY
A presentation of the ANZAC Day Trophy will be made on the field at the conclusion of the match.
 
The President of the Victorian RSL, Vietnam Veteran Major General David McLachlan, will present the trophy to the captain of the winning team.
 
The trophy comprises a silver bowl, which is supported by four bronze columns and a central glass pillar. The glass pillar has images of servicemen and footballers and is etched with the names of all VFL footballers that gave their lives on active service. The wooden footing of the trophy comes from an ironbark plank, part of an ammunition wagon, which saw service in Villers-Brentonneux in France. The bronze columns incorporate metal salvaged from Gallipoli battlefields.
 
The trophy and ANZAC Day Medal were kindly donated to the RSL by UNIBIC, makers of ANZAC Biscuits.
 
ANZAC DAY MEDAL
A presentation of the ANZAC Day Medal will be made on the field at the conclusion of the match.
 
The ANZAC Day Medal is awarded to the player in the match who best exemplifies the ANZAC spirit - skill, courage, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play.
 
The medal is an engraved bronze disk, incorporating battlefield metal, surrounding a glass centre into which is set an image of the RSL badge.
 
CLICK HERE for a summary of each ANZAC Day game played between Collingwood and Essendon since 1995, including winners of the ANZAC Day Medal.
 
MOTORCADE OF ANZAC VETERANS
A motorcade of eight cars prior to the commencement of the game will include those currently serving along with returned veterans and returned nurses and servicewomen who served in the Kokoda Track Campaign, Korea, Malaya/Borneo and Vietnam.
 
Collingwood Football Club is grateful to club sponsor Lexus for their continued support of the motorcade in providing Lexus IS 240 convertibles for the veterans.
 
CAR 1
EX POW
Mr Alexander Arthurson
Age: 93
Army, 13th Australian General Hospital, sent to Malaya.  Captured with Fall of Singapore, 15 Feb 1942.  Sent to the Thai-Burma railway with D Force.  Repatriated late 1945.
 
Mr Douglas Lush
Age: 94
Army, 8th Div Signals, Captured with Fall of Singapore 15 Feb 1942. Sent with C Force to forced labour in Japan (1942).  Repatriated in late 1945.
 
CAR 2
WW2 - KOKODA
Rev Peter Holloway
Age: 91
Army, 39th Battalion.  New Guinea/Kokoda, 1942. Later fought on the Northern Beaches campaigns on the beachheads of Buna, Gona and Sanananda.  
 
Mr John Ackhurst
Age: 93
Army, 39th Battalion.  New Guinea/Kokoda, 1942. Initially a member of the Victorian Scottish Regiment.  Joined 39th Battalion on its formation in Oct 1941 with the rank of Sergeant.  Arrived Port Moresby Jan 1942.
 
CAR 3
WW2 - KOKODA
Mr Robert Nichols
Army, 2nd/14th Infantry Battalion, Middle East and PNG including the Kokoda Track.
 
Mr Robert Iskov
Age: 91
Army, 2nd/14th Infantry Battalion, Middle East and PNG including the Kokoda Track.
 
CAR 4
KOREA
Mr Stuart McCann
Age: 83
Army, 1951-1957, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Stuart saw active service in Korea from 1952-1953.
 
Mr David McKenzie
Age: 80
Army, 1952-1953, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.  David saw active service in Korea in 1953.  David was wounded and repatriated to Australia just prior to the end of the hostilities.
 
CAR 5
RETURNED SERVICEWOMEN & NURSES
Mrs Betty Trewin
Age: 87
Army, Australian Army Medical Womens Service, 1942-1946.  Betty enlisted at the age of 18 and served at the Heidelberg Hospital and then on troop trains throughout Australia.  Betty is a War Widow, her husband also served in the Army during WW2.
 
Mrs Nesta Summerhayes
Army, Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps, 1953 to 1957.  Nesta saw service in Korea and Japan.  Nesta received the United Nations Service medal (Korea).
 
CAR 6
MALAYA/BORNEO
Mr Allan Godfrey
Age: 90
Army, 1941-1946, Allan served in WW2 in Darwin and in new Guinea at Milne Bay before participating in the landings at Balikpapan, Borneo in 1945.  Allan was with 2nd Casualty Clearance Station.
          
Mr Frank Maret
Age: 65
RAAF. 1968-1974, Frank served as a radio technician at RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia 1970-1973. Malaya/Borneo is often referred to as Australia’s longest military conflict, in this car are two of the oldest (Allan - 90) and youngest (Frank -65) veterans of that conflict.       
 
CAR 7
VIETNAM
Lieutenant Colonel Colin Bannister
Age: 79
Army, Vietnam, 1964-1965, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), 1969-1970, HQ 1st Australian Task Force.  Colin joined in 1952, graduated from Royal Military College, Duntroon.  Retired 1974 as Lt Col.
 
Mr John Vincent, OAM
Age: 61
Army, Vietnam, 1969, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV).  John also served in the UK, Sweden, Papua New Guinea.  John was the Victorian Veteran Senior Citizen of the year, 2011.
 
CAR 8
CURRENTLY SERVING
Flight Lieutenant Leighton Merry
Age: 29
Royal Australian Air Force, Currently serving at RAAF Williams at Laverton.  Leighton has only just returned from Operations  
 
Chief Petty Officer Rohan Jennings
Age: 49
Royal Australia Navy, 1984 - present (27 years).  Currently serving at HMAS Cerberus as Communications and Information Systems Manager.  Rohan has extensive overseas operational service most recently on HMAS Adelaide in the Persian Gulf in support of operations in Iraq.